BCSD Portugal

Chair
António Pires de Lima, CEO, Brisa

Managing Director
João Wengorovius Meneses

Background information
Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) Portugal is a non-profit association that aggregates and represents more than 135 leading companies in Portugal, which are actively committed to the transition to sustainability.

We help the associated companies in the journey towards sustainability, promoting positive impact for stakeholders, society and the environment.
We have a wide representation of the sector and companies of different sizes, from the PSI20 to the smaller ones.

The sales volume of the members represents 38% of the national GDP, 65 million euros in turnover and this group of companies employs more than 270 thousand employees.

Vision
To be the reference entity at the level of corporate sustainability in Portugal, for the public and private sectors, with the goal to achieving the Sustainable Development Objectives, the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.

Mission
BCSD Portugal encourages and supports its members in their journey towards sustainability, inspiring and helping them build competitive, innovative and sustainable organizations and business models – at the Environmental, Social and Economic / Governance levels. At the same time, it contributes to the development of public policies and to the awareness of Portuguese society, with a view to the sustainable development of Portugal.

Activities

Training

• Journey Towards Sustainability is an experience of the path to sustainability, in which companies, associated or not associated, of any size and sector of activity, can participate. It is a training service consisting of three main stages - beginners, achievers and beacons - from which companies can benefit from any stage, depending on the company's sustainability stage of maturity.

• BCSD on Tour is taking the Discover Sustainability experience through Portugal, opening space for new audiences to hear about the journey to sustainable development and engage with BCSD Portugal. Discover Sustainability is a two-hour experience to discover why it’s vital to embrace sustainability, its opportunities and how to do it.

• Open Executive Program on Sustainable Management in partnership with Porto Business School

Working Groups

BCSD Portugal member companies form multisectoral working groups whose mission is to create mechanisms and tools to respond to business challenges.

The topics that are being monitored are:

• Decarbonization
• Biodiversity
• Value Chain
• Circular Economy
• Sustainable Finance
• Sustainable Cities

Advocacy

• General Sustainability topics, relevant for business
• Carbon Neutrality
• Bioeconomy